1603
1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). Events January - June * March - Samuel de Champlain, French explorer, sails to Canada. * March 24 - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin's grandson, King James I of England, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England. * April 28 – Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey. July - December * July 17 or July 19 - Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for treason. * July 25 - Coronation of James I of England. * August - Samuel de Champlain returns to France * November 17 - Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason in the converted Great Hall of Winchester Castle. * December 22 - Mehmed III Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Ahmed I. Undated * Johann Bayer's Uranometria, an atlas of the southern sky, is published. * Tokugawa Ieyasu granted title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan and establishes the Edo or Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, Japan. This ends the Azuchi-Momoyama period and begins the Edo period. * Accademia dei Lincei founded. * Huguenot Pierre de Gua is granted royal permission to settle in North America. * Rebellion in Transylvania. * Plague in England. * English crush Irish rebellion. Hugh O'Neill surrenders. * Yaqob deposed as Emperor of Ethiopia by Za Sellase, who appoints his cousin Za Dengel to replace him. Births *January - Shackerley Marmion, English dramatist (d. 1639) * January 27 - Harbottle Grimston, English politician (d. 1685) * March 18 **Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (d. 1697) ** King John IV of Portugal (d. 1656) * April 19 - Michel le Tellier, French statesman (d. 1685) * June 17 - Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (d. 1663) * July 11 - Kenelm Digby, English privateer and alchemist (d. 1665) *July 23 - Axel Lillie, Swedish soldier and politician (d. 1662) *August 16 - Adam Olearius, German scholar (d. 1671) * August 17 - Lennart Torstenson,Dutch solidier and military engineer (d. 1651) *September 15 - Tokugawa Yorifusa, Japanese nobleman (d. 1661) * October 10 - Abel Janszoon Tasman, a Dutch seafarer and explorer (d. 1659) * November 16 - Augustyn Kordecki, Polish prior of the Jasna Góra Monastery (d. 1673) * December 21 - Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (d. 1684) *''date unknown'' **Louis Abelly, French monk and priest (died 1691) **John Ashburnham, English Member of Parliament (died 1671) **Daniel Blagrave, English Member of Parliament (died 1668) **Johannes Cocceius, Dutch theologian (died 1669) **Valentin Conrart, one of the founders of the Académie française (died 1675) **Denis Gaultier, French lutenist and composer (died 1672) *''probable'' **Aernout van der Neer, Dutch painter (died 1677) **Alexandre de Prouville, French statesman and soldier (died 1670) See also 1603 births. Deaths *January 15 - Catherine Carey, Lady in waiting to Elizabeth I of England *February 23 - Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519) *March 24 - Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533) *March 25 - Ikoma Chikamasa, Japanese warlord (b. 1526) *April 25 – George Frederick (b. 1539) *June - Baldassare Donato, Italian composer and singer (b. 1525) *June 27 - Jan Dymitr Solikowski, Polish archbishop, writer, and diplomat (b. 1539) *July 4 - Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (b. 1521) *September 8 - George Carey, English politician (b. 1547) *November 16 - Pierre Charron, French philosopher (b. 1541) *November 20 – Krzysztof Mikołaj "the Lightning" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (b. 1547) *December 9 - William Watson, English conspirator (b. 1559) *December 10 - William Gilbert, English scientist (plague) (b. 1544) *December 13 - François Viète, French mathematician (b. 1540) *December 22 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (b. 1566) *December 27 - Thomas Cartwright, English Puritan clergyman *''date unknown'' **Edward Fenton, English navigator **Ralph Lane, English explorer (b. 1530) **Aleksander Ostrogski, Polish nobleman (b. 1571) **Ikeda Tomomasa, Japanese military commander (b. 1544) **Chen Lin, general of Ming Dynasty *''probable'' **Grace O'Malley, Irish noblewoman and pirate (b. 1530) See also 1603 deaths.